rorists with independence now would be wrong. "No pasarán!" the Bishop said, his eyes twinkling. The Serbs have long tried to define their fight with the K.L.A. as a religious conflict, and this was the theme that the Bishop took up. "Islam has no borders," he said. "T errorism has no borders. The presence of Wahhabism is growing in Bosnia and Kosovo. We think the Amer- icans want to use Bosnia and Kosovo to overcome the tensions they have with the Islamic countries. America leads the fight against world terrorism in Mghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East, and for that it is condemned by Islamic countries. They say it is not really fighting terrorism but Islam. That's why America needs some- thing to show that it is not really against Muslims: 'Look, we are helping the Mus- lims in Bosnia and Kosovo get their dem- 0cratic rights, their own state.' " (There may be something to this. Senator Biden recently wrote, 'The people ofKosovo- already the most pro-American in the Is- lamic world-will provide a much needed example of a successful U.S.-Muslim partnership.") Bishop Artemije believes that an in- dependent Kosovo "would be the base for Islamic jihad, which would threaten security not only in the Balkans but in the whole of Europe and in America. Do we need to remember September 11 th?" Interfaith dialogue with Muslims was pointless, Artemije said. He had tried it already, before the riots of2004. "All our conversations and conclusions were sim- ply an empty letter," he said. "Since the 2004 pogrom, we don't have any contact. We don't speak. There is no use." Had the Bishop read the Ahtisaari proposal? "Partially," he said dismissively. (I asked Ceku if he ever spoke with Bishop fu- temije. "I've tried to talk," he said. "I sent a letter that I want to meet him. But he never answers.") The Bishop's voice was soft, though his words were bitter. 'The international community tolerates what- ever Albanians do against Christians in Kosovo," he said. "Thousands of mur- derers are walking freely through the streets of Kosovo today." T he most common graffito by far in Kosovo is a red-and-black stencil: '']0 Negociata-Vetevendosje!" ("No Ne- gotiations-Self- Determination!") The Vetevendosje Movement, as it's called, attracts mainly young, educated, urban Kosovars who are fed up with the inter- nationals, the politicians, and the stalled drive to independence. In February, a rowdy Vetevendosje demonstration outside the U.N. offices in Pristina caused a Romanian unit to panic and start shooting rubber bullets into the crowd. Two people were killed and more than eighty injured. The U.N.'s police chief was fired, but the Romanians were not punished. Vetevendosjès leader was arrested, and is now on trial. Some five hundred people showed up for V etevendosje' s most recent dem- onstration, this summer. Marching alongside the college students were older men, clearly peasants from the vil- lages, wearing the traditional white con- ical cap called a plis. They chanted "K.L.A.! K.L.A.!" An enormous Albanian flag-blood- red, with a black double- headed eagle- was unfurled across the front of a build- ing, and the marchers roared. The flag has become an unusually potent symbol lately, ever since the U.N. Mission de- clared that it will not be the flag of an in- dependent Kosovo. This decision has infuriated Kosovo Albanians. What's more, the U.N. Mission is sponsoring a public competition to come up with a neutral design for a new flag: no black, no red, and no eagles will be allowed- too divisive. The march wound through down- town Pristina, drums booming. On the steps of the National Theatre, five dum- mies in business suits with pumpkins for heads were set on chairs-effigies of Kosovo's negotiators in its talks with Bel- grade. A curly-haired young woman with a microphone went down the line, pulling off each pumpkin top. Inside the head of a former K.L.A. commander she found "dreams of factories, luxury." In- side that of an older politician she found "dreams ofTito." Inside Agim Ceku's head she found "Ramush!" The crowd laughed and jeered. Ll )J l .. _ . I . . . The march ended at the U.N. Mis- sion's headquarters, where a large white gift box labelled "Ahtisaari," with a mes- sage in English-"Take This Package and Go to Hell" -was dumped over the front gates. The demonstration ended peacefully, but in Kosovo the threat of violence never quite leaves the air. The 2004 riots arose on the back of peaceful protests. The K.L.A. veterans' association an- nounces regularly that it may no longer be able to control its members' disap- pointment at not having achieved inde- pendence. And Kosovo is justly famed for its gun culture. In a population of slightly more than two million, there are believed to be nearly half a million guns in civilian hands. I n September, the deadlock over Koso- vo's future intensified. The govern- ment in Belgrade declared that Western recognition of a unilateral declaration of independence would cancel the agree- ment that ended the 1999 war. Serbia would impose a trade embargo, and would have the right to send its armed forces back into Kosovo. Prime Minister Ceku seemed to shrug off this threat, calling independence a "done deal." He and his negotiating team are once again engaged in talks, at the in- sistence of their Western partners, but no one expects an agreement. The talks are scheduled to end December 10th. In Kosovo, the general expectation, encour- aged by Ceku, is that the next step will be a unilateral declaration of independence, most likely before the end of the year. The United States is still sending mixed signals-pro-independence but anti-unilateralist. Yet Ceku may be feeling less constrained than he once did. The U.N. Mission in Kosovo has scheduled local and parliamentary elec- tions for mid-November, and Ceku has announced that he will not run. His only concern now, he said, is to make Kosovo "as ready as possible for inde- pendence." Meanwhile, Ramush Hara- dinaj, his charismatic double, from the dock in The Hague, has quietly added his name to his party's list of parliamen- tary candidates. . NEWYORKER.COM William Finnegan talks about Kosovo.